Reaching out, giving back

Here’s a little something for all you folks who thought Mack Brown just coaches football …

On Monday, Brown and his wife, Sally, received the 17th Harvey Penick Humanitarian Award presented by Caritas.

The award, named after famed golf teacher Harvey Penick, is given in recognition of community involvement and charitable works. The Browns helped found The Rise School of Austin, and contribute, often silently, throughout the city of Austin.

Caritas was founded in 1964 as an agency addressing the needs of the poor through the benefits of public assistance. Now, it has a budget of $5.5 million, including government funds and private gifts.

“When you think about Caritas, it’s one of the outstanding charities in the country, and especially in the city of Austin,” Brown said. “They feed over 450 people every day in our community without asking questions. … It’s a wonderful organization, one we’ve been involved with before, but one that we’re so pleased to be honored by.

“Unless we help everybody and try to make everybody have an opportunity to live a really good life and have a good existence, then we won’t have the country we believe we want to have.”

Former honorees include Ben Crenshaw, Edith and Darrell Royal and Jody Conradt.